Love for children

Feast of the Sto. Niño (Proper Feast in the Philippines). Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Holy Childhood Day
January 18, 2009

The feast of the Holy Child Jesus is an opportunity to contemplate the great dignity of the human person, made in God’s image and likeness, especially in the person of children, since Our Lord was also a child once. Jesus tells His apostles to let the little children come to Him. He warns about leading them to sin.

In our times, there are many things that harm children. While violence and other immoral acts committed against children are despicable, we should not forget that there are many other insidious situations that have longer and more permanent effects in culture and society. Among others we can mention divorce and dysfunctional families, abortion, a contraceptive mentality, and a mindset that views children as possessions or playthings of selfish parents. “Life is not an egotistic possession, but a gift to welcome with gratitude; (…) it is not an arbitrary game, but a project of love; (…) it is not a meaningless accident, but a vocation to be realized; (…) it is not a problem that is hard to resolve, by a mystery to be contemplated with humility and wonder.” (Jesus Christ, Word of the Father, Official Catechetical Text in Preparation for the Holy Year 2000, p. 140) Let us not spare efforts in promoting among married couples love for one another and their children, which they can, in turn, pass on to other married couples.